E!

Caityln Jenner

Forty-one percent.

That’s the percentage of transgender people who attempt suicide. Suddenly, our planet doesn’t seem so hospitable. E! Entertainment, part of NBCUniversal, hired us to promote Caitlyn Jenner’s show about her new identity.

When we began, there was no guidebook for this, no precedent, only tabloids and comedians offering dark commentary on Bruce Jenner. We realized that we were going to help frame the conversation about transgender social issues for a nationwide audience. First, Eric Dunn drafted a strategy in which we used the promo space as an opportunity to transform the issue into something more like a PSA. We wanted to beautify the conversation with a radical makeover, employing the same cinematic techniques used on Bethany Mota in our YouTube “Creators” campaign (2014).

The brief became something of a bible for NBC, their PR department and external partners. Because of our size, Odysseus Arms was able to easily keep all of NBC’s assets private, and all the creatives were sworn to secrecy about the contents of the videos leading up to the release date.

The journey began with Keeping Up with the Kardashians. We got an email from Kim.

The momentum from Eric’s brief grew so much that Jenner was featured on the cover of Vanity Fair, as Caitlyn Jenner, finally in her own skin and in front of millions.

The strategy continued to play out, beautifying the conversation while humanizing the issue.